Blogger Dr. Marcella Collins, Conference planner

Vaccination Rate Of US Adults Are Not Sufficient. Part 1 of 3

Vaccination Rate Of US Adults Are Not Sufficient – Part 1 of 3

Vaccination Rate Of US Adults Are Not Sufficient. Although there have been miniature increases in some adult vaccination rates, US health officials reported Wednesday that those rates are still not what they should be. “We needed vaccinations as infants and toddlers, but we also privation vaccinations as adults,” Dr Susan J Rehm, medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, said during an afternoon rumour conference Wednesday. Rehm noted that vaccination rates among children are very good. “Because of that, we see only a fraction of the vaccine-preventable diseases we saw in the past, and a fraction of the deaths and sufferings from these diseases. But our advances will be uncompleted if we do not maintain our immunity as adults”.

Speaking at the same news conference, Dr Melinda Wharton, deputy director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, announced some unusual data on adult immunization rates. The rate of coverage for the pneumococcal vaccine, which is recommend for adults over the length of existence of 65 to prevent pneumonia, has remained at 65 percent since 2008. However, the rate of vaccination among blacks and Hispanics is far below this.

The rate of adults being vaccinated with the newer vaccines is increasing. The hominoid papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine was first recommended in 2007 for young women to prevent cervical cancer. By 2009, 17 percent of women old 19 to 26 had received at least one shot – three are required. “This is up 6,2 percent, compared with 2008”.

Another new vaccine is the herpes zoster vaccine, which prevents shingles and is recommended for adults ancient 60 and over. Coverage with this vaccine is up a little from 2008, from 8 percent to 10 percent. One important adult vaccine is the hepatitis B vaccine, which can avert liver cancer. Coverage of this vaccine is now 41,8 percent among high-risk groups, up 6 percent from 2008.